Cherry Blossoms in Winter
by Queenbean3
Summary: One night a strange boy appears in Coraline's dreams, guided by a strange red string. Crossover with Kubo and the Two Strings.
1. The Encounter

Chapter 1: The Encounter

The moon was full on the night Kubo had the dream.

It had been months since Kubo defeated the dreaded Moon King and saved the survivors of the burned down village. Those months had been filled with hard work helping the villagers rebuild and repair what they had lost in the fire. When Kubo wasn't busy helping the villagers he was helping his Grandfather, cooking and cleaning for him and telling him carefully edited versions of stories he needed to hear to fill in the holes in his memory.

Every night Kubo came home to the cave exhausted. He barely had time to play his shamisen and make origami puppets nowadays. Everyone seemed to need his help, and he was too kind to ever say no. The only time he had to himself anymore was bedtime, and he would typically fall into a deep, dreamless slumber until the sun rose.

But on this night as Kubo and Grandfather slept, the moon was full. And for the first time in many days, Kubo dreamed.

In the dream, he found himself alone in a dark, empty void. As he looked around he saw no sign of anyone or anything else. There was no light, no sound, no anything. It was just inky black nothingness as far as his eye could see. Then he noticed something odd dangling from his right hand. He held it up to find a thin, flimsy-looking red string tied around his little finger.

Curious, he tugged at the knot to loosen it. Instead it grew tighter, painfully squeezing his finger. He pulled on the end dangling off his hand, but the same thing happened. The seemingly delicate string was as strong as steel. And it there was more of it trailing on the ground in front of him. The rest of the string was on the ground at his feet, stretching far off to somewhere in the distant darkness.

With his curiosity growing and his not wanting to stay in this empty place all alone, Kubo decided to follow the red string and see where it led him. After walking for some time he saw a dim light in the distance that grew brighter as he got closer. It was as though he were walking through a long tunnel. Soon he had to squint his single eye against the light. When his sight adjusted, he found he had exited the dark tunnel and was standing in a strange new place.

Kubo was standing in a sunny orchard full of cherry trees in bloom. But that couldn't be right, he thought to himself. It was supposed to be late autumn, almost winter. It was the wrong season for cherry trees to be in bloom. Yet here they were, scattering their tiny petals on his head and shoulders like pale pink snowflakes.

As Kubo watched the petals dance and twirl to the ground, he saw the red string again. It was in the dirt at his feet making a straight line through the row of trees. It led him out of the orchard and to a winding path on a steep, rocky hillside. He paused to look down at the scenery below him. There was an odd-looking house down there. And it seemed the red string was trying to lead him down toward that house.

Kubo followed the winding path down the hillside and wondered what kind of people would live in such a place. It was unlike any house Kubo had ever seen. It was taller than the cottages in the village back home, but smaller than his father's old fortress. It was painted a garish shade of pink several times pinker than the cherry blossoms. And there was a garden outside of it, filled with colorful plants he couldn't recognize from a distance.

The red string led Kubo straight to the stone wall surrounding the garden and swept up and over it. Whatever it was leading him to was on the other side. So he climbed the stones and pulled himself up to the top of the wall. From here he could see everything in the garden.

There was an old iron gate at the opposite wall, and every space of soil within the walls was filled with strange red flowers Kubo didn't recognize. But strangest of all was the person he saw kneeling among the flowers. They looked to be a child about his age and size, but he couldn't guess their gender from their looks. Their hair was cut to chin length and an unnatural shade of blue, and they wore a pink short-sleeved tunic with long pants. Back home only boys dressed in pants and wore their hair so short, but the boys back home never wore pink. Could this child be a girl? Were they some other gender he didn't know about yet? And why did they have blue hair?

The blue-haired child didn't seem to notice Kubo. They were busy digging amongst the red flowers and pulling up weeds, and they sang a song as they worked. "Oh, my twitchy witchy girl, I think you are so nice; I give you bowls of porridge and I give you bowls of ice…cream!"

Kubo tilted his head and listened, amused by the blue-haired child's off-key singing. Twitchy witchy girl? Perhaps that was the answer to the gender question.

The blue-haired girl continued singing, unaware of his presence. "I give you lots of kisses, and I give you lots of hugs, but I never give you sandwiches with greasy worms and bugs…in!"

Kubo let out a chuckle at the funny song lyrics. Unfortunately it gave his presence away.

Suddenly the girl looked up and stared straight at him with shocked brown eyes. "Hey!" she shouted, standing up straight and jabbing a dirty garden trowel at him. "Get down from there!"

Kubo was so surprised that he lost his balance on top of the wall and fell into the garden with a startled "AAAH!" He landed on his back in a flowerbed with a THUMP.

Groaning in pain from the fall, he opened his one eye to see the girl standing over him with one hand on her hip and brandishing a handheld gardening tool in the other. He didn't recognize what it was, but it had two short, pointed blades at the tips.

"You better start talking, kid," the girl said, frowning down at him. "What are you doing spying in other people's gardens?"

Kubo held his hands in front of him defensively, afraid that she might hurt him with the bladed gardening tool. "I wasn't spying! I swear! I was just looking for… for…"

He trailed off, not sure how to explain what he was doing in a way that didn't sound ridiculous. Then he noticed the red string he'd been following. It was coming out of the dirty glove on the girl's right hand.

"Looking for what?" the girl demanded. "Spit it out, kid!"

"That!" Kubo cried, pointing at the string.

The girl looked at her gloved hand and saw the red string peeking out. Confused, she removed the glove and gaped at the red string tied to her little finger as if she had no idea it was there until now. "Huh? What is this?"

"It's okay," Kubo said, sitting up to show her his hand with the string on it. "I have it, too. I think we're both tied with the same string."

"Well, it's coming untied right now!" the girl said as she started fumbling with the knot on her finger.

"Wait!" Kubo began. "I don't think you should–"

"Ow!" the girl cried, shaking her hand now throbbing with pain. With a growl, she tried using her garden tool to cut the string. She squeezed the handles together with all her might, groaning from the effort. "Ugh! What's this thing made of? I can't get it off!"

Kubo sighed. "That's what I was trying to tell you. I tried to get it off, but it just got tighter. So this must be a magic string."

"Magic string?" the girl echoed, thin eyebrows twisted in confusion. Then she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Right, of course it is," she muttered. She folded her arms and frowned at Kubo. "Okay, so it's magic string. Why is it tying us together?"

Kubo rubbed his chin, thinking hard. He was finally remembering something about what the red string meant. "My mother told me a story about this once. She said that people who are destined to meet each other are connected by the Red String of Fate." He held up his hand and looked at the string on his finger, idly rubbing the knot. "It means that no matter who, where or when you are, you're meant to be with that person. You can stretch or tangle the string, but the bond can't be broken. Ever."

"So you're saying we're stuck like this?" the girl asked. "Why? Why is it so important for us to be together?"

"Umm…" Kubo said, scratching the back of his head and looking away. "I don't know. Maybe we're supposed to help each other somehow? My mother said the god of marriage uses the string to bring lovers together, but…"

"What?! Ewww!" the girl cried in horror. She cringed away from him and made a gagging noise. "Oh my god, that's disgusting! I'm too young to get married! I don't even know you!"

"Hey!" Kubo retorted, offended that this weird girl would find the mere thought of marriage to him so revolting. He stood up and clenched his fists at his sides, not bothering to brush off the dirt that was sticking to his clothes and hair. "This wasn't my idea, you know! I don't want to marry you, either!"

"But you were following the string!" the girl snapped, jabbing an accusing finger at him. "You came here looking for me! Why else would you be here?"

"I didn't know the string was leading me to you!" Kubo protested. "I don't even know who you are, or where I am, or–" He paused, realization sinking in. "Where am I?"

"Huh?" the girl replied. She stepped back and looked him up and down, as if truly seeing him for the first time. Her expression shifted from disgusted anger to curiosity. "Huh. Now that you mention it, you don't look like you're from around here. Who are you, anyway?"

Kubo realized then that he had never introduced himself to her. In fact, he had been incredibly rude all this time. He placed his hands together in front of him and bowed deeply, formally greeting his hostess and showing remorse for his behavior. "My name is Kubo," he said humbly. "I'm very sorry for trespassing into your garden and upsetting you. It's just… This has never happened before and I'm really confused."

The girl seemed puzzled by his bowing, but she seemed to accept his apology because she smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it, kid." She copied his bow out of courtesy, more stiffly and clumsily than he had done it. "Nice to meet you, Kubo. My name's Coraline."

"Co-ra-line…" Kubo repeated, pronouncing each syllable slowly. He snickered at her weird name. It sounded foreign, like it came from a far-off land. He decided not comment on that. It would be rude, and he didn't want to offend the girl any further. "Um, I liked your singing earlier. And your garden is nice. Did you plant all these flowers?"

Coraline put her hands on her hips and puffed out her small chest with pride. "Yep! It was a team effort. I planted them with my parents, and our neighbors helped, too." She swept an arm out at the garden. "All of these red flowers are tulips, except for those down there under the bridge. That's Mr. B's beet patch."

"Tu-lips…" Kubo echoed, testing the unfamiliar word slowly. "Beets… I've never heard of those."

Coraline arched an eyebrow at him, "Wow. You're really not from around here. How did you get here?"

"I… I'm not sure," Kubo said, looking down at his feet. "One moment I was at home fast asleep, then suddenly I was in a dark empty place, and now I'm here talking to you." He scratched his head as he studied the strange flowers called tulips. "Maybe none of this is real. I could be dreaming all of this."

"Dreaming…" Coraline murmured, pouting in though. "You know what? I think I'm dreaming, too. I remember falling asleep in my room, and then suddenly I was out here in the garden, and then you showed up."

"So we're both dreaming?" Kubo wondered aloud. "But… This can't be my dream. This is your garden, and that's your house."

Coraline nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, so this must be my dream. That means… you're inside my head right now? How is that possible?"

"My magic must be doing it," Kubo said simply. "Grandfather says my powers are still developing, so anything is possible. This is new, though. I didn't know I could go into other people's dreams."

Coraline blinked in surprise, eyes growing wider. "Wait, you have magic powers? So you're, like, a wizard or something?"

"Not exactly," Kubo replied. "I'm... Well, I guess I'm a demigod. My mother was the Moon King's daughter and my father was a human samurai." He shuffled his feet and peered at her through his long bangs. "So...Yeah. That's what I am."

Coraline's eyes were as big and round as saucers as he explained all this. From the look on her face it was clear she was stunned by everything she just heard. "Oh," she said at last. "Okay. I guess that makes sense." Then she chuckled awkwardly. "Wow. There's a samurai moon boy in my head right now, and we're tied together with some unbreakable magic destiny string."

Kubo chuckled as well and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess that's pretty weird."

"Heh. And it isn't even the weirdest thing that's happened to me." She fiddled with her garden clippers. "So… What happens when I wake up?"

Kubo shrugged. "I don't know. If you wake up then your dream ends. And I guess everything goes back to the way it was before."

Coraline frowned. This time she almost looked disappointed, like she didn't want him to leave yet. "Well, I'm still dreaming now. Why don't you tell me the rest of your story? I bet samurai moon boys have some really cool adventures."

Kubo brightened up immediately. He loved telling stories, and he had been so busy working lately that he'd had no time for it. Now here was someone who wanted to hear his story, someone new who had never heard it before. Coraline was a fresh audience he could dazzle with his tales.

"Sure, I-! Oh, wait…" His face fell. "I need my paper and my shamisen… I can't tell my stories without them."

She gave him a friendly nudge with her elbow. "Come on, you're magic and this is all a dream. You can do anything you want!"

Kubo smiled slightly. "Good point. Maybe if I just think about it, it'll come true."

He closed his eye, picturing his shamisen clearly in his mind. When he opened it again, it was there in his hands, looking exactly as it did in real life. He grinned, and closed his eye again. Once again the thing he was thinking of appeared; the plectrum he needed to strum the strings, and a stack of colorful origami paper on the ground.

Coraline cheered and clapped her hands, already impressed. "Awesome! See? I knew you could do it!"

Kubo grinned at her praise. Then he composed himself, face turning serious as he raised the plectrum over his head. He was about to begin the story.

"If you must blink," he said in his most powerful, dramatic voice. "Do it now!"

He brought the plectrum down, striking a powerful chord on the shamisen's three strings.

"Pay careful attention to everything you see and hear," Kubo went on, continuing his long memorized opening speech. "No matter how unusual it may seem. And please be warned; if you fidget, if you look away, if you forget any part of what I tell you, even for an instant..." He paused, building suspense. "Then our hero will surely perish."

By now Coraline's eyes were big and bright with excitement. Her hands were balled into fists and she was bouncing slightly in place, waiting eagerly for something magical to happen.

So Kubo began to play, and the paper on top of the stack came to life. It was story time.

 _To be continued…_

* * *

Author's Note: Kubo has easily become my favorite Laika movie next to Coraline, so of course I had to write a fanfic where they could meet each other. Please tell me what you think! I'm planning to write more chapters, but I'm not sure how long this story will be before I run out of steam. So if you like this story, please leave me a review! There's no greater motivation than hearing that somebody likes your work, even if it's just a few small words.


	2. Story Time

Chapter 2: Story Time

Kubo chose to begin his tale with how his mother and father met.

As he plucked a few notes on his shamisen, several pieces of paper rose from the stack and folded themselves into the shapes of a crescent moon and three stars. He continued to play the instrument as he began narrating, using his best dramatic storyteller voice.

"Long ago, the Moon King had three daughters. The eldest was Sariatu, and she shone brighter than any star in the heavens."

One of the stars, made of golden yellow paper, transformed into the shape of a woman with long flowing robes and hair. She fluttered weightlessly above the ground, ethereal and dignified.

She made a graceful bow to Coraline, who was now seated on the stony garden path with her knees pulled up to her chest. The girl giggled and murmured an amazed "Wow!"

Pleased with her reaction, Kubo continued his tale. "The Moon King was proud of his daughters," he went on, his fingers playing up and down the strings. "But as he watched over the earth below, he grew unhappy. For you see, his greatest fear was that a mortal would find the three pieces of a magical suit of armor, and grow powerful enough to threaten the heavens. One mortal was very close to achieving just that. His name was Hanzo."

A piece of orange paper leapt from the stack and turned into a fully armored samurai, standing proudly and wielding a paper sword. He also bowed to Coraline, and she giggled again.

"Hanzo was a mighty samurai," Kubo narrated. "Noble and brave, he was on a quest to find and unite the three pieces of magical armor. And so the Moon King sent his daughters to kill Hanzo."

Suddenly the floating paper woman drew a paper sword from the folds of her long robes and pointed it at the paper samurai.

"Sariatu arrived before her sisters. 'You have offended my father,' she said. 'Now you must die!'"

The yellow paper woman lunged at the orange samurai, and their duel began. As their swords clashed, Coraline bounced up and down happily and waved her fists in the air.

"Yeah!" she shouted. "Fight, fight, fight!"

Smiling, Kubo humored her and let the duel last a bit longer than he planned. He played a suspenseful, fast-moving tune on his shamisen to accompany the action scene, and the two puppets leapt, spun and twirled in a dance of swords.

Coraline laughed and clapped, cheering on both puppets. "Go, Hanzo! Yeah! Get him, moon lady! Show him what you're made of!"

"As the battle raged on," Kubo continued. "They saw that they were evenly matched. Neither could defeat the other, and both were too proud to surrender. Then, suddenly, Hanzo stopped."

The music stopped as well and the two puppets froze in midair, swords locked and face-to-face. Coraline held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Kubo spoke in a low voice that was almost a whisper. "Hanzo looked deep into the eyes of Sariatu and uttered four simple words. These words changed her life forever."

Coraline leaned forward, fists balled under her chin and eyes shining with eager anticipation. "What was it? What did he say?"

The boy smiled as he answered. "'You are my quest.'"

He played a series of sweet, gentle notes on his shamisen. The two puppets slowly lowered their swords and embraced each other. "With those words, Sariatu saw the humanity in his eyes. It was more powerful than anything in her cold realm. Hanzo had fallen in love with her, and she with him. And so they spared each other's lives, and she chose to remain on earth with him."

Coraline's enthralled expression turned to one of disappointment. "Are you kidding me?"

Kubo paused his playing and looked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

"Are you telling me they fell in love just like that?" she complained. "It doesn't make sense. A few minutes ago they were trying to kill each other."

He frowned at her, eye narrowing slightly. "That's the way my mother told the story."

Coraline blinked in surprise. She had forgotten this was a true story, not something he was making up. "Oh. Sorry."

"Thank you," Kubo said. "Now hush. The story isn't over yet."

Kubo resumed playing his shamisen. The sweet, gentle melody continued, and more papers flew together, constructing a large fortress as tall as himself. The paper couple entered the front gates hand in hand.

"Hanzo and Sariatu were soon married, and they lived together in his fortress, the Beetle Clan castle. And in time, Sariatu bore a child. A son."

A door opened at the top floor of the castle, and the paper couple emerged with a small red bundle shaped like a baby wrapped in a blanket. His little paper arms wiggled with joy as his paper parents gazed down at him tenderly.

"They named him Kubo," he said softly. "And they loved him very much."

Coraline was smiling again, hands clasped under her chin. "Aww, that's so sweet. Did they all live happily ever after?"

Kubo's face turned serious. "I wish I could tell you they did. But that isn't what happened. When the Moon King discovered his eldest daughter had betrayed him, his rage shook the heavens."

He strummed a series of dark, solemn notes. The two floating paper stars that remained changed into the shapes of two women. They looked similar to the first woman, but they were made of blue paper instead of yellow. Then the blue crescent moon twisted into the shape of a monstrous beast, like a cross between a serpent and an insect with many legs. Together, all three puppets swept down onto the castle, which quickly began to crumble.

Red and orange streamers erupted from the roof, engulfing the castle in flames. As the samurai fought the two women, the monster snatched the baby from his mother's arms. The tiny paper woman reached out desperately to take her child back, and Coraline gasped in horror at the sight.

"With his two remaining daughters," Kubo went on gravely. "The Moon King attacked the Beetle Clan castle… and he stole the left eye of the infant Kubo."

Coraline stared at him in stunned silence for a long moment. Her mouth opened slowly to speak. "The Moon King…your grandfather… He stole your eye?"

Kubo looked down at the ruins of the paper castle. He raised a hand to his face, fingers tracing the edges of the patch covering the empty space where his left eye had once been. "Yes."

A deep, heavy silence weighed down on the two children. Then Kubo felt a cold breeze on his cheek and saw the tulips shuddering in the wind. The sunny blue sky turned black, and the stone path he stood on seemed to bubble and fizz like boiling water.

He looked at the girl seated across from him. "Coraline?"

Coraline didn't answer. She was pale and frightened, and her hands were trembling. The cold breeze grew stronger as the scenery of the dream world darkened and flickered like a candle about to go out. The origami castle and puppets were caught in the whirlwind, and the paper swirled wildly above the children's heads.

"Coraline!" Kubo cried.

She still didn't answer. She hugged herself, breathing in short, quick gasps, and her face ashen and haunted. He rushed forward, gripped her shoulders and shook her, trying to break her out of her daze even as he was on the verge of panic. He had to shout to be heard over the wind.

" _Coraline!_ Coraline, look at me!"

At last, Coraline gasped and looked straight at Kubo. There were tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, but her fear seemed to fade now that she had him to focus on. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them fiercely with her fists, and the dream world gradually returned to normal. The wind stopped blowing and the flying papers fluttered to the ground, which was solid stone once again. The sky was no longer black, but it wasn't sunny anymore. It was overcast with thick grey clouds.

Coraline took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "It's okay…" she said, more to herself than to Kubo. "I'm okay…"

He didn't let go of her shoulders. Something wasn't right with her, something his story had set off. "Are you alright? What was all that?"

She looked down at her fists in her lap. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Kubo tilted his head and frowned, trying to read her face. "That wasn't 'nothing'. You were scared. Your dream was turning into a nightmare."

"It's just some bad memories," Coraline said drearily. She pulled her knees to her chest, still avoiding eye contact with him. "I thought they didn't bother me anymore. I keep trying not to think about them, but sometimes they sneak up on me."

Still keeping one hand on her shoulder, Kubo moved to sit down next to her. "I know how that feels," he said softly. "I have bad memories, too. Lots of them. It helps to talk to someone about it."

"I do talk to people," she said, hugging her knees tightly. "My friend Wybie, his grandma, the cat… but they don't live with us. And my parents have no idea. They don't even remember what happened to us… what she did to us."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Kubo offered. "Maybe it'll help you feel better."

She was quiet for a moment. "I guess I could try," she said at last. "But when I'm done, you have to promise you'll finish telling me your story."

"I promise."

She raised her little finger. The red string was still tied around it. "Pinky swear?"

The phrase was new to him, but the gesture was familiar. He hooked his little finger around hers, which also had the string tied to it. "Pinky swear. If I lie, may I have my fingers cut off, receive ten thousand fist-punches, and swallow one thousand needles."

Coraline looked surprised at his gruesome speech, as if she had never heard the true oath that went with the gesture. Then she chuckled and said in a joking voice "Ew."

She stood up, brushed the dirt off her pants, and turned to face the house beyond the garden.

"My family moved into this house back in winter," she said, beginning her story. "Wybie's grandma, Mrs. Lovat, owns it. She divided it up into apartments, and my parents and I live in the middle part."

She pointed to the section of the house she meant. Kubo stood next to her and squinted at it through the dim light. He wondered how many people lived in the house besides Coraline's family, but chose not to ask. If it were important, she would say so in her story.

"I thought it was just a boring old house at first," she went on. "Until I found a weird little door in the wall."

Suddenly the scenery changed. They were no longer standing outside in the garden, but in a room inside the house. Rain was falling outside. There were windows, a fireplace, and furniture that looked like nothing Kubo had ever seen before. Then he saw Coraline pointing to an odd rectangle shape that seemed to blend into the wall.

"That's it right there," she said. "When my mother unlocked it, there was nothing but bricks behind it."

As Coraline told her story, Kubo watched each scene play out before his eyes. It was like one of his magical puppet shows, but different. He was seeing the events unfold straight from her memories.

He saw Coraline's mother, a woman who looked very much like her but with brown hair instead of blue. She looked tired and stressed, and wore something like a large bandage around her neck. He watched as she knelt on the floor and used a black key to cut through the wallpaper covering the door. She unlocked it, and sure enough there was nothing but bricks behind it.

"That night," Coraline went on. "A mouse came to my room and led me back to the door. This time there was a tunnel that wasn't there before."

Just as she said this, the sky outside the windows turned dark as night and a mouse with black button eyes scampered to the closed door. It swung open, and to Kubo's amazement there was indeed a tunnel. It was a small one, just big enough to crawl through, and it shimmered with pink, blue and purple light.

"I went through to the other side," Coraline said. "At first it looked just like I was back in my house. Everything looked the same." She turned and gestured for him to follow her to another room. They walked toward a warm yellow light and the sound of someone singing. "But then I saw her."

The person singing in the next room was a woman who looked just like Coraline's mother, but different. She was smiling with pearly white teeth and cherry red lips. Her hair was neat and tidy, and there was no bandage around her neck.

And she had shiny black buttons for eyes.

Kubo felt his skin prickle and a cold weight in his stomach. "Who is that?" he whispered to Coraline.

The girl's eyes were hard as steel and her fists were clenched tightly at her sides. "The Other Mother."

The way she said those three words sent a chill down Kubo's spine.

 _To be continued…_


	3. Memories

Chapter 3: Memories

As Coraline continued her story, she revealed more of her memories to Kubo.

He soon saw that everyone else who lived in this other house had buttons for eyes. Besides that oddity, everything here was beautiful and exciting. The garden was filled with all kinds of exotic and magical multicolored flowers. There was a jumping mouse circus in the attic, and a theater in the basement with acrobats and dogs. All the people were constantly smiling, always happy and eager to please. If it weren't for the warnings of a talking black cat, Kubo might have enjoyed all these wonders. Instead he felt a growing sense of dread building in his stomach. All of this was leading up to something terrible.

"Then the Other Mother asked if I wanted to stay with her," Coraline said. "I almost said yes, until she showed me what she meant."

They were in the dining room again, and there was a gift-wrapped box on the table. The Other Mother and Father were sitting on either side of the table, watching with their black button eyes and smiling with those same disturbingly cheerful smiles.

Kubo's stomach twisted into a cold, heavy knot when he saw what was inside the box.

Two black buttons, a spool of black thread, and a silver needle.

Now it all made sense. This was why Coraline had been so distressed when he told her how the Moon King stole his eye. The same thing had almost happened to her.

"She wanted your eyes," Kubo said in a hushed voice, turning to Coraline. "So she could keep you here with her."

Coraline nodded grimly. Her fists were still clenched at her sides, but they were trembling. "I wasn't the only one," she went on. "She did this to three other children before me."

Seeing her fear creeping back, Kubo reached to hold her hand. He had just met her and barely knew her, but it seemed like the right thing to do. "It's okay, Coraline," he said gently. "You don't have to tell me anything else."

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her fingers closed around Kubo's hand and squeezed it tight. "No. I can't stop yet. Not until the story ends."

Coraline continued the story and more memories played out before them. She met the three lost children as ghosts, who told her the Other Mother had hidden their real eyes, keeping them trapped in her world. Coraline promised to help them, but before she could do anything the Other Wybie, one of the Other Mother's servants who had rebelled, pulled Coraline out and pushed her through the little door back to her real home.

It looked like she was safe at last, but her parents weren't there. She waited for them to come home, but they didn't. Then the black cat came, and led her to a mirror that showed her real parents. They were imprisoned somewhere in the Other World.

"A trap," Kubo said. "She knew you'd have to go back for them."

"The cat told me that, too," Coraline said. "But I couldn't just let her take them. They're my parents."

This time it was Kubo who squeezed her hand tighter. He couldn't blame her for going back. If his parents were captured he would have done the same.

The memory turned back to the Other World. It no longer looked like an exciting, welcoming place, and the Other Mother no longer looked human. Everything was twisted and wrong. The colors were too bright and flashy, and nothing and no one could be trusted. It was all an elaborate illusion for a predator to lure in her prey.

"To save my parents and the ghost children," Coraline explained. "I had to challenge the Other Mother to a game. If I lost I would stay and let her sew her buttons in my eyes. But if I won, she had to set everyone free. She agreed, but the cat warned me she wouldn't play fair. He was right."

Kubo watched as the scenes shifted from the garden, to the basement, and to the attic. What had once been friendly and fun places were now dark and dangerous. Hummingbirds became giant wasps, dogs became bat-like monsters, and mice became hideous rats. All of them were trying to stop Coraline from finding the ghost eyes, but with the help of a magic stone and her friend the black cat she found each one. And every time she did, the Other World faded and crumbled more and more. The Other Mother's power was waning.

Even so, it became harder and harder for Kubo to watch all these awful memories. He wanted to intervene, to stop the monsters from attacking Coraline and hurting her, but he couldn't. These were things that had already happened. He had no choice but to watch the story unfold until the ever end.

"All that was left was to find my parents," Coraline said. "There was nowhere else to look but in the living room, where the door was. The Other Mother was there, and she wasn't the same."

Indeed she wasn't. Kubo gaped at the creature waiting for them in the dark, eerie room. The Other Mother no longer looked human. She was a towering skeletal doll with spidery legs and needles for hands. Her teeth were longer and sharper, her face haggard and twisted. She was no longer smiling, and she still had those black buttons for eyes.

"Are you sure you want to keep going?" Kubo whispered to Coraline. "This part of the story looks really scary."

"It'll be fine," she whispered back. "It's almost over."

He looked at her and saw that she wasn't as afraid as before. In fact, she was smiling to reassure him. This was the most dangerous part of the story so far, and yet she seemed perfectly calm. Of course, Kubo thought. This was her story. She already knew how it was going to end.

"I tricked the Other Mother into unlocking the door," she said. "And found where she trapped my parents."

She pointed to a row of glass globes on the fireplace. The black cat jumped up next to it, and Coraline's real parents could be seen inside one big globe. But she still needed a distraction to get the Other Mother away from the door. The only thing she could think to do was to throw the cat at her. The cat panicked and clawed out her black button eyes, and while she was screaming Coraline took the globe with her parents inside.

The eyeless Other Mother let out a bloodcurdling scream. She stamped on the floor and it collapsed just before Coraline could reach the door. It was a giant spider web and she was caught. Kubo gasped and covered his mouth with one hand. How could she escape from this?

Then the scene became blurred and foggy, and the color drained away. Soon everything was just misty gray fog. Kubo frowned in confusion. Was this part of the memory?

Coraline yawned beside him. Her eyelids were sagging and her posture was slumped. "No…" she muttered, rubbing her eyes as her head drooped. "Gotta finish the story…"

The memory scene melted away, and soon the two children were floating in a foggy gray void. There was nothing left but them drifting in misty nothingness.

Kubo knew what that meant. "Your dream is ending. You're about to wake up in the real world, aren't you?"

Coraline groaned sleepily. "No, I don't want to wake up now. I'm not done telling my story…"

He smiled at her and gave her hand a friendly squeeze. "It's okay. You can tell me the rest the next time we meet."

Her head jerked up in surprise. "You're leaving?"

"I have to," Kubo replied. "I can't stay if your dream is ending. I have to find my way back to my own dream."

She frowned and held his hand tighter. "But you didn't finish telling me your story. What if I forget you when I wake up? How can I know any of this was real?"

Kubo thought for a moment. Then he plucked a long black hair from his head and expertly twisted it into a thin cord.

"Here, take this." He wrapped the cord around Coraline's wrist and tied the ends together. "This is a memory, and memories have powerful magic. As long as you keep it with you, you won't forget me."

Coraline studied the thin black cord around her wrist curiously. "Cool. Oh! I'll give you something, too!" She took the small dragonfly hairclip from her blue hair and pressed it into Kubo's palm. "Here. If you still have this when you wake up, you'll know it's from me."

He smiled and closed his fingers around the hairclip. "Thank you, Coraline," he said with a small bow. "I'm glad the Red String of Fate brought us together. I'm sure we'll meet again soon."

Coraline grinned and raised her little finger, showing off the red string around it. "Pinky swear?"

He grinned back and hooked his little finger around hers. "Pinky swear."

With those words, Coraline yawned again and her eyes closed. Then the misty gray fog faded to black. Kubo was back in the dark void where he had started his dream journey.

He looked around, wondering how he would get home from here. He had found his way to Coraline by following the red string, but he couldn't follow the same string back home, could he?

Then he saw a new red string around the little finger of his left hand. Just like the first red string, it was trailing off into the distant darkness. Where did this one come from, he wondered? And to whom did it lead him? The only way to know was to follow it and see.

After walking for some time, he heard a voice. It was muffled and distant, but he recognized it immediately.

"Kubo… Kubo!"

It was Grandfather.

He began to run, following the red string toward the old man's voice. A faint light appeared in the distance, and it grew brighter and brighter as the voice grew louder. Soon it was so bright that he had to shut his eye. Then he became aware of someone shaking him gently.

"Kubo, wake up!"

He opened his eye to see Grandfather leaning over him, one eye glassy and white with a cataract, the other warm brown like his own. "Oh, good, you're awake," the old man said, smiling kindly. "When you didn't wake up earlier I was worried. You were talking in your sleep, and I thought you were having a nightmare."

Kubo opened his eye blearily and yawned. He was back home in the cave, lying on his mat on the floor. Everything looked the same as he remembered it, and he smelled rice cooking.

"It wasn't a nightmare," Kubo muttered sleepily, pushing himself upright and yawning again. "But it was a very strange dream…"

He paused. Then he frowned. Something was in his hand, something hard and metallic. He uncurled his fingers to see what it was, and his eye opened wide with surprise.

It was the dragonfly hairclip. The one Coraline gave.

Grandfather looked at it in confusion. "Kubo, where did you get that?"

The boy grinned from ear to ear, single eye shining bright with excitement. "Grandfather, I have such a story to tell you!"

 _To be continued…_


	4. In Daylight

Chapter 4: In Daylight

The next morning Coraline's dragonfly hair clip was gone and around her wrist there was a thin bracelet of black hair.

She didn't notice these details when she first woke up. Her mother was calling from the hallway for her to hurry and get ready for school, and she grudgingly got out of bed to go to the bathroom.

She was washing her hands after using the toilet when she noticed the bracelet made of black hair twisted together.

All at once she remembered her dream about meeting the one-eyed boy with the magical guitar. No, wait. It wasn't a guitar. What had he called it? A shamisen? Yes, that was it. His name was Kubo, the samurai moon boy who could bring origami to life. He had given her a piece of his hair so she would remember him, and she had given him the dragonfly hairclip she always wore.

Coraline looked in the mirror above the sink and sure enough the hairclip was gone. "Whoa," she murmured, eyes wide as she brushed the loose strands of blue hair out of her face. Then she grinned and hurried back to her bedroom to get dressed for school.

As she was putting on her boring gray uniform, Coraline heard a familiar scratching at her window. It was her friend the nameless black cat. He came and went as he pleased, but he seemed to make a point to check on her every few days.

She cheerfully opened the window to let the cat in. "Good morning, cat! I was hoping you'd visit today. You won't believe the dream I had last night!"

The cat butted his head against her hand and purred loudly, demanding her undivided attention.

"Okay, okay, petting first," Coraline giggled.

She scratched the cat under his chin and behind his torn ear, and he pressed into her touch gratefully. As he rubbed his face against her forearm he brushed against the bracelet and paused, staring at it with curious blue eyes.

"Ah, now you notice," Coraline teased, holding her wrist out for the cat to see. "Would you like to hear how I got this?"

The cat sniffed at the bracelet, eyes narrowed in concentration. Then he sat up and looked at her with his head tilted to one side. He was waiting for her to begin her story.

"Last night I had a dream that I met a strange boy out in the garden," Coraline said, fingering the bracelet. As she described the dream her speech and gestures grew more animated. "We both had the same red string tied to our fingers, and he said that's how he found me. Then he told me this wild story about moon people and samurais, and he made music that brought paper to life!"

"Coraline?" her mother called from downstairs. "Are you dressed yet? Your Toaster Strudel's getting cold!"

"Be right there, mom!" Coraline called back.

She went to the dresser to get a pair of clean socks and got her shoes from under the bed. As she put them on she went on talking to the cat.

"Anyway, I started telling him my story, too, and we lost track of time. He had to go back home when I started waking up, so he gave me this bracelet so I'd remember him. And I gave him my hair clip so he'd remember me." Her eyebrows crinkled together in thought. "Hmm, what should I wear instead? I don't like my hair getting in my eyes."

She went to her vanity table and opened her jewelry box. Inside there were several different styles of barrettes and hair clips she had collected over the years. Her eyes fell on a barrette with a shiny red and black ladybug on it. A beetle, not so different from the one embroidered on the back of Kubo's robe. And ladybugs were supposed to bring good luck. Maybe he'd get a kick out of that the next time she saw him.

The cat jumped up on the vanity table and made a concerned sort of meow.

"Don't worry, Kubo's not dangerous," Coraline said, fastening the ladybug barrette in her hair. "He doesn't have buttons for eyes, so he can't be one of _her_ things. But he did lose an eye when he was a baby. He said his grandfather stole it from him."

The cat's blue eyes narrowed at this. Coraline fiddled with the bracelet, rolling it between her fingertips.

"I want to see him again," she said quietly. "I didn't finish telling him my story, and he just started telling me his. Maybe that's why we had that red string tying us together." She looked at the cat, seeing the look of uncertainty in his blue eyes. "If you're worried, you can come along next time. You can do that, right?"

The cat sat straight and tall with his tail curled around his paws, looking very proud of himself. The smug, half-lidded look in his eyes seemed to say 'Do you really need to ask?'

"Right, of course you can," Coraline said with a smile. She checked her hair in the mirror once more before giving the cat one last stroke down his back. "Well, I better get going. The school bus is coming and I can't miss it again." She picked up her backpack from the floor and went to door. "I'll see you tonight, cat!" she said, waving goodbye to him. "Come back around bedtime!"

The cat gave a slow blink and nodded his head ever so slightly. Once Coraline was gone, he went back to the open window and slipped outside. He had business to attend to while she was at school.

* * *

Meanwhile, long ago and far away, Kubo was telling his grandfather about his dream over a breakfast of tea and rice.

It had taken some time, but Kubo had finally become comfortable living with the old man. Grandfather was truly a different person now that he shared the same humanity as him. It almost felt like they were a normal family. It was still awkward to talk about the past, however. Kubo and the villagers all agreed to keep Grandfather's past identity a secret until they were certain it was safe to tell him the truth. So Kubo told him the things about his dream that were safest, and they were the things that excited him the most.

"It was incredible, Grandfather!" he said as he chewed his rice. The boy was so excited that he was speaking with his mouth full and waving his chopsticks in the air. "I was in a different person's dream! She was a girl with blue hair, and she lived in a big pink house with red flowers in the garden! And there were cherry blossoms, too! A whole orchard full of them!"

The old man chuckled at his grandson's excitement, although he was growing concerned about him talking so much with his mouth full. "Kubo, please slow down and swallow your food. You'll choke if you keep talking like that."

Kubo gulped down his mouthful of food and went on talking even faster. "And we were tied together with the Red String of Fate! It wouldn't come off, no matter what we did. I don't know how it got there, but that was how I found her!"

Grandfather's eyes went wide. "The Red String of Fate? Good heavens, Kubo! Have you met your future bride already?"

This time Kubo really did choke on his rice. He coughed to dislodge it from his throat and gasped for air. _"Grandfather!"_ he cried with a look of terror on his face. "I hardly know her!"

The old man chuckled heartily and took a sip of his tea. "Well, the string must be there for a reason. It doesn't necessarily mean you'll be married to this girl. The two of you could have been meant to meet for another reason."

Kubo arched his eyebrows with curiosity. "There are other reasons?"

"Yes, indeed." Grandfather replied. "You said you followed a second red string to come back here, yes? Perhaps that means you and I are bound together by fate as well, as a family. As for this girl, you may be destined to help each other and change one another's lives forever. There could be something only you can do for this girl, and she for you."

Kubo stared into his mug of tea as he thought. Had he and Coraline helped each other already? Their stories had surprising similarities, and there were few people they could tell such stories to in waking life. He hadn't gotten very far into his story yet, but Coraline seemed relieved after telling him so much of hers. Perhaps that was the reason they had met. They both needed someone to listen, someone who had lived through a similar story who would understand how it felt.

His eye drifted to the dragonfly hair clip in his lap. It glittered in the firelight with pink and blue artificial gemstones. "She gave me this before I left," he said, picking it up for Grandfather to see. "She wore it in her hair. I think it's a memory, like the bracelet I gave her."

The old man picked it up and squinted with his one good eye to study it more closely. "My, how lovely!" he remarked. "She must be fond of you to give you something so precious. And brave, as well. Dragonflies are bringers of victory."

Kubo's eye widened in amazement. "They are?"

Grandfather nodded, returning the hairclip to him. "Oh yes. Many samurai wear such emblems to bring them success in battle. It pairs well with the beetle crest you wear, a symbol of strength."

Kubo studied the delicate hairclip in his hand in wonder. Did Coraline know all of that when she gave it to him? Maybe he could ask her when they met again. "I want to see her again," he said. "We were becoming friends. I want to go back to that place and hear the rest of her story, and tell her my story, too. Do you think that's possible, Grandfather?"

The old man slowly and quietly chewed a bite of rice before answering. "Of course it's possible. Your magic is very strong for one so young, and you've just discovered a new power. And it's good to see you so excited about making new friends. But be careful how you use your power, Kubo. There may be dangers there you don't yet know about."

The boy nodded obediently. "Yes, I will."

"Very good. Now finish your breakfast. We promised Hosato we'd help paint his new house, and we can't be late."

Kubo did as he was told and gulped down what was left of his rice and tea. After putting out the fire and tidying up the cave, he and Grandfather set out for the village. As always, Kubo brought his pack full of paper and his shamisen. Even if he wasn't telling stories today his music was useful for other things, like building and repairing large structures.

He carried the dragonfly hairclip in his hand, and as he walked with Grandfather he admired the way the colorful little gems flashed in the sunlight.

Unbeknownst to the boy and the old man, they were being watched. Something was following them, hidden in the tall grasses between the cave and the village.

It was a black cat with blue eyes and a torn ear.

 _To be continued…_


	5. The Second Encounter

Chapter 5: The Second Encounter

Kubo went about his day more distractedly than usual. It was hard to concentrate on the work he needed to do when his head was so full of thoughts. Painting Hosato's newly rebuilt house should have gone quickly, but he kept wondering how it would look with pink paint instead of white. He ended up getting more paint on himself than the walls. Hosato's little daughter Mari found this highly amusing.

When the sun began to set Kubo was eager to get home and eat dinner so he could go to sleep and start dreaming again. He kept walking too fast and getting ahead of Grandfather, and every time he had to stop and turn back to catch up with the old man. When they returned to the cave they prepared dinner together and once again Grandfather had to remind Kubo to eat slower so he wouldn't choke.

After dinner Kubo sat outside in the moonlight and folded origami puppets by hand. He planned to bring them with him this time to Coraline's dream, as well as his shamisen. When Grandfather joined him with a cup of barley tea, he saw the two finished puppets standing next to Kubo on the ground. One was of Hanzo the samurai standing proud in orange paper. The other was Sariatu, looking regal and sad in yellow paper.

"What charming puppets," the old man remarked. "That one looks just like your mother."

Kubo froze and looked up at him, his one eye big with surprise. "You remember my mother?"

Grandfather smiled sadly. "Only a little. I remember what she looked like, but… that's all I have." He took a sip of tea and gazed up at the night sky. "When I think of her I feel as if something went terribly wrong between us, and I am filled with deep regret. I wish I knew why."

Kubo looked down at the little paper figure of his mother, feeling an odd mixture of relief and guilt. For a long time Grandfather couldn't remember anything about his past. This was the first time he showed any sign of a memory, one that was real and not something Kubo and the town had fabricated. He recognized the Sariatu puppet on his own and sensed something bad had happened with her, something no one had told him about. What did it mean? Would more of his memories come back soon? And if they did, what then?

Grandfather took another sip of his tea and spoke again. "This is a good night for dreaming. The moon is still quite full from last night."

Kubo glanced up to gaze at the moon, round and bright in the sky. "Huh. It's going to start waning soon, isn't it?"

"It already has," Grandfather said. "It's so slight that you can barely notice the difference. See? There's a tiny bit of shadow on the right side."

Kubo squinted at the moon. Sure enough there was a tiny sliver of shadow covering the right edge of the glowing white sphere. Each night, little by little, the shadow would continue to grow until the moon was engulfed in shadow.

"What happens when the moon goes dark?" Kubo asked.

"That is when the moon's magic is at its weakest," Grandfather replied. "As its light returns, so does its strength."

Kubo pondered this news in silence. He had the blood of the moon kingdom in his veins, which meant he shared its magic. His powers always worked in daylight, but what if they started to grow weaker at night when the moon waned? Would that keep him from visiting Coraline's dreams?

If that was true, he had a limited window of time on his side. And he needed to go to sleep soon.

"Well, I think I'll go to bed now," Kubo said. He gathered his puppets in his arms and stood up. "What about you, Grandfather?"

"I think I'll stay here a bit longer," the old man replied. "Watching the moon like this makes me feel at peace."

The boy smiled. "Alright, then. I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Grandfather."

"Good night, Kubo," Grandfather said kindly. "Sleep well, and have good dreams."

As Kubo went inside, he didn't notice a pair of bright, feline eyes watching him from the rocky peak just above the cave's entrance.

* * *

After some restless tossing and turning on his mat, Kubo fell asleep and found himself in the same dark, empty void as the night before. And just as before the red string was tied to his little finger.

This time he came prepared. He had his pack full of puppets and paper on his back and his shamisen slung over his shoulder. And of course he didn't forget Coraline's special dragonfly hairclip. He had it in his pack with the rest of his belongings; the same place where he used to keep the protective monkey charm his mother gave him.

He walked at a brisk pace, following the red string through the void until it brought him to the bright light on the other side. Once again he was in the orchard full of blooming cherry trees, their pink petals shining white in the sunlight. The red string stretched down the path to wherever Coraline was. But before he could take another step, he heard a polite noise behind him.

Kubo turned around to see who had made the noise. There was no one there but a black cat sitting on an old tree stump. It was looking at him with shiny blue eyes narrowed in a skeptical, judging sort of way.

At first the boy didn't recognize the cat. Then he remembered the memories Coraline showed him from her story. "Hello," Kubo said, inclining his head politely. "You must be Coraline's friend the cat. She told me about you."

The cat nodded slowly, bending forward to arch his back and stretch his front legs. "Yes, and she told me about you," he said in a deep, resonant voice that seemed too big for such a small animal. His eyes flitted down to Kubo's feet. "You shouldn't stand there, by the way. It's dangerous."

Kubo looked down. He was standing on some old wooden boards surrounded by a ring of tiny mushrooms. Had they been there the night before? Either way, if the talking cat said it was dangerous he should probably listen. He knew from experience it was unwise to ignore the advice of talking animals.

"Why is it dangerous?" Kubo asked, stepping careful outside of the ring of mushrooms and staring down at the boards.

"There's a very deep well under there," the cat replied, now raising his upper body as he stretched his hind legs. "And there's something bad at the bottom. But I won't tell you that story. Coraline wants to do that."

"That's why I'm here," Kubo said, adjusting the strap of his shamisen. "Do you know where she is?"

"Go see for yourself," the cat said. "Wherever that red string leads you, that's where she is." With that, the cat hopped down behind the stump. He didn't reappear on the other side. He simply wasn't there anymore.

Kubo arched his eyebrows at this. Then he shrugged his shoulders and started following the thread. Just like the cats back home, this one seemed to come and go as he pleased.

Sure enough the red string led out of the cherry orchard, down the winding mountain path, and back to the tulip garden. Coraline was seated on top of the garden wall, kicking her legs back and forth idly. When she saw Kubo coming, her blue-haired head perked up and she grinned hugely.

"Kubo!" she called, red string flapping from her hand as she waved to him. "Welcome back!"

Grinning, Kubo waved as well and jogged down the path to meet her. "Hello, Coraline!" he called back. As he drew closer the red string tying them together seemed to shrink in length.

Coraline hopped down from the wall and ran up the path to meet him. As she came closer he was stunned by the clashing colors she was wearing today. She wore a gray jacket with an orange shirt underneath, a pink skirt, bright green legging and pink shoes. He had never seen anyone wearing so many flashy colors at once, but it was oddly appropriate for an unusual girl like Coraline.

"I'm so glad you came back!" she was saying. "I've been looking forward to this all day. School was soooo boring, and my dad made vegetarian lasagna for dinner." She stuck her finger in her mouth and made a fake gagging noise to show her disgust, which made Kubo laugh.

"It's good to be back," he replied with a smile. "By the way, I just met your friend the cat. He was up in the cherry orchard."

"He was?" Coraline said with surprise. "I hope he was nice to you. He can be kind of snooty sometimes."

"Snooty?" said a deep, resonant voice from behind her. The two children looked to see the black cat sitting on top of the garden wall. "Is that meant to offend me?"

Coraline pouted and put her hands on her hips. "No, but it's true. You _are_ snooty."

The cat shrugged and hopped down from the wall, long black tail swaying from side to side as he sauntered toward them. "How perceptive you are to notice."

Coraline rolled her eyes and groaned. "See what I mean?" she said to Kubo. "He's always like this. Even when I'm awake and he's not talking, he's so full of himself."

Kubo chuckled. "It's alright, I don't mind. Cats act the like they're better than humans at home, too."

"That's because we are," the cat chimed in. He sat on his haunches by Coraline's feet. "You should listen to this boy. He's wise beyond his years."

Kubo wasn't sure if this was a compliment or not. Then he squinted at something attached to Coraline's head. "Hey, is that a beetle in your hair?"

She tapped the new hair clip with one finger and smiled. "Yeah, it's a ladybug. I saw it in my collection and it made me think of you. They're supposed to be good luck."

"Really? Just like the dragonfly you gave me!" Kubo reached into his pack and pulled out the glittery hair clip from under the papers and puppets. "I found out that they bring victory. Samurai even wear them to help them in battle."

Coraline's brown eyes sparkled in amazement. "Wow, really? I never knew that! That's so cool!" She held out her wrist with the thin black bracelet on it. "I still have the bracelet you gave me, too. You were right, it was still there when I woke up."

The cat cleared his throat, sounding politely impatient. "Pardon me, but didn't you two have a reason for meeting here like this?"

"Yes, I'm getting to that," Coraline said. "So, Kubo, are you ready for more stories? There's not much left of mine."

Kubo returned the dragonfly to his pack and nodded. "Yes, and I came prepared. I brought my real shamisen and puppets this time. But before I tell you the rest of my story, you need to tell me how your story ends."

"Right, of course." Coraline turned back to the garden and gestured for Kubo to follow her. "You're welcome to join us, too," she added to the cat.

The cat made no reply, but he sauntered alongside the children with his tail held high.

Coraline led them to the arched bridge at the center of the garden. She stopped at the top and put her hands on her hips, eyebrows crinkled in thought. "Now where did I leave off? Oh, yeah, the final showdown with the Other Mother. Okay, here we go."

Her eyes closed in concentration and she took a big, deep breath. All around them the world began to blur and fade. To Kubo's amazement the scenery of the sunny garden melted away, and they were back in the remains of the Other Mother's living room. The floor had turned into a giant spider web and the eyeless, skeletal creature was stopped in mid-pounce, a frightened Coraline in orange pajamas at the center of the web with her mouth open in a soundless cry.

Kubo instinctively stepped closer to the Coraline standing next to him. The bridge was gone and they were standing on a narrow ledge at the edge of the living room, looking down at the scene frozen in time. Something hairy brushed against Kubo's legs and he saw the cat pressing up against the wall, his back arched and his tail bushy.

"I don't like this part," the cat muttered.

Kubo gulped and nodded in silent agreement.

"Don't worry, guys," Coraline said, reaching to hold Kubo's hand. "It all turns out fine. Just watch and you'll see."

He looked at her with mild amazement. Yesterday he had seen how afraid she was telling this story, and he was the one who had comforted her. Now she looked so brave, and she was the one holding his hand and assuring him it would all be fine.

"She attacked," Coraline said, waving her arm at the still scene before her. "And I had to escape."

All at once everything was in motion. The Other Mother was coming down on top of the frightened Coraline, who scrambled to escape. The blinded monster shrieked in rage, unable to see her prey getting away from her. Then Coraline's bag caught on the web, the bag with the three Ghost Children's eyes and her parents' snow globe prison. She was forced to stop and pull the bag free, causing a vibration that caught the Other Mother's attention. She cackled and climbed after the fleeing girl, but she didn't catch up in time to keep her from getting to the door.

The memory scene changed to the inside of the tunnel. Coraline was trying to close the door but the enraged Other Mother was pulling too hard on the other side. She was reaching into the tunnel with her right hand, trying to grab Coraline. Suddenly three pairs of ghostly hands flew out of her bag and joined her hands around the doorknob.

 _"Please shut it!" Coraline cried._

At last the door slammed shut on the Other Mother, breaking her grasping mechanical hand from her wrist. It dropped lifelessly on the ground, and for a moment all was silent as Coraline used the black key to lock the door.

Kubo let out the breath he was holding, relieved that the danger was finally over. Then he jumped at the enraged scream and loud, desperate hammering that came from the other side of the locked door.

 _"Noooo!" the Other Mother screeched. "Don't leave me! I'll die without you!"_

Coraline ran through the tunnel, the pounding door chasing after her with every step. She came out the other side, closed and locked the door just in time, and collapsed on the living room floor.

It wasn't the other living room with the giant spider webs and furniture like dead insect carcasses. This was the real one, with drab colors and plain furniture and rain on the windows. She was home.

Kubo remained tense and held his breath, waiting for another horrible thing to happen. Instead Coraline's parents returned, snow sticking to their clothes and confused about why their daughter was so happy to see them and why she looked so disheveled.

"They had no idea what happened," said the Coraline next to him. "It's like they forgot everything as soon as the snow globe broke. But they were safe, and we were together again, and that was all that mattered."

This time Kubo let out an even bigger sigh of relief. The monster was defeated and the family was safe. Everything was alright at last. He smiled at Coraline, hand tightening around hers. "Wow, you really did it. This is a great ending to your story."

She smiled back at him and shook her head. "This isn't the ending. I still had to free the Ghost Children, and then… Well, just watch and see."

The cat, more relaxed than before, weaved between her legs and sat on her feet. "This next part is good," he said to Kubo. "I'm in it."

The scene changed to Coraline's bedroom. It was night and she placed the three little orbs from her bag under her pillow. The cat was on the bed with her and curled up beside her as she fell asleep. Then the scene turned to a dream. The ceiling was gone and instead there was a glowing night sky with swirling blue and gold stars. Kubo watched in wonder as three golden lights gathered and turned into three winged children. It was the three Ghost Children, with their real eyes and grateful smiles and their hands joined.

 _"It's a fine, fine thing you did for us, miss," said the girl in the middle. She had braids and ribbons in her hair and a sweet face._

 _"Well," Coraline said with a tired smile. "I'm glad it's finally over."_

 _The three golden children looked worriedly at each other. "It is over and done with…" said the girl with the braids. "For us…"_

 _"You're in terrible danger, girl!" said the tall ghost girl._

Kubo's blood turned cold. Danger?

 _"But how?" Coraline cried. "I locked the door!"_

 _"It's the key, miss," said the girl with the braids. "There's only one, and the beldam will find it."_

Coraline clutched at the key around her neck, struggling to hold back tears. Kubo felt much the same, his heart sinking with despair. Why couldn't the Other Mother leave her alone? Why did she have to keep making her suffer? She was just a child. She didn't deserve this.

Kubo felt Coraline's hand tightening around his. He looked up to see her smiling even through the tears in her eyes.

"It's gonna be okay," she assured him. "Stay with me just a little longer. It's almost over."

Kubo wiped his tears on his sleeve and nodded. If she could be brave, then so could he.

The scenery before them changed again. Coraline had awakened from her dream in the middle of the night. The cat was also awake and he looked tense. She had to get rid of the key. She got out of bed and went to the door, but the cat stopped her. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but only a _meow_ came out. Not understanding, Coraline pushed the cat aside with her foot and left the room, leaving him behind.

"I did try to warn her," the cat at Kubo's feet said.

"But I don't understand," Kubo said. "How can the Other Mother go after Coraline when the door is locked?"

"You'll see soon enough," the cat replied dryly.

"Ahem," Coraline said, clearing her throat to get their attention. "I knew I had to hide the key someplace where the she could never get it. So I went straight to the old well in the orchard. But I didn't know I was being followed."

It was still night. Kubo watched as Coraline climbed the familiar winding path from the garden to the cherry orchard, singing a simple tune to comfort herself. He knew it as soon as he heard the words. She had been singing this song on the day they met.

 _"Oh my twitchy witchy girl, I think you are so nice, I give you bowls of porridge and I give you bowls of ice… cream…"_

As he watched her walking the path through the orchard toward the well, Kubo's eye darted around in the darkness. Something was following her, but what? He couldn't see anything. Then he heard it; faint scuttling footsteps. It sounded like a rat. A rat with an extra leg…

Coraline had reached the old well, the same one where Kubo had met the cat before. She shoved a large branch under the lid to lift it, still singing as she worked.

 _"I give you lots of kisses, and I give you lots of hugs, but I never give you sandwiches with greasy worms and bugs… in…"_

She lifted the black key from inside her shirt and started to lift the cord over her head. Then something small and shiny lunged at her, catching the key and dragging her to the ground by her neck.

Kubo gasped in horror, single eye huge with fear. It was the Other Mother's hand, the same hand that had fallen off in the tunnel between worlds. And now it was dragging a struggling Coraline through the dirt, trying to take her back to the door where the Other Mother was waiting.

His stomach twisted into a cold knot and sank with despair. This couldn't be happening. Was this the end? No, it couldn't be. The real Coraline was still here, standing right next to him, holding his hand and telling her story. This story had already happened, and it didn't end like this.

Suddenly there was a blinding light and a blaring horn from a slope above the orchard. It was a boy in a skull mask riding a strange two-wheeled contraption. Kubo recognized him from some of Coraline's earlier memories. It was Wybie, the neighbor boy.

Wybie shouted a battle cry and raced down the hill, snatching the hand away from Coraline with a pair of tongs. But the hand would not give up. A struggle followed, during which Wybie fell off his two-wheeled vehicle and fell into the well. Coraline caught the hand in a blanket before it could push his hand off the ledge. She rolled away with the hand trapped in her bundled blanket, but then the hand started ripping its way out. Then Wybie came to her aid again and dropped a large rock on top of the hand, breaking it into pieces.

 _"Yes!"_ Kubo cheered with his fist in the air. His shout startled the cat, who glared up at him in annoyance, but Kubo was too engrossed in the story to notice.

Coraline remained focused as she narrated the scene. "It was finally over. We tied the broken hand up with the key and the boulder, dropped them into the well, and closed it up. Now nothing can get in or out."

The cat made another polite noise and sauntered out to stand in front of her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh!" Coraline said, remembering what he meant. "That's right, you were the one who brought Wybie to help me."

The cat turned and sat on the ground, waiting for her to say something else. "And?"

"And you helped save my life," Coraline added. "Thank you."

The cat looked very pleased with himself. "You're welcome."

"Oh, and there's one more thing," Coraline said. "The next day Wybie brought his grandma over to the house. I had to tell her what happened to her sister. She never knew."

"I see. Is that the end of the story?" Kubo asked.

Coraline nodded. "Yes. It's the end."

With a sigh, Kubo released Coraline's hand and dropped on the ground to catch his breath. "Wow…" he said between breaths. "That was quite a story…"

Coraline sat down next to him and pulled her knees up to her chest. She smiled at him, looking tired but happy. "Yeah… Thanks for listening."

They sat together in the moonlit cherry orchard for a while. It was silent except for some branches rustling in the wind and an owl hooting somewhere in the woods. As he sat there watching hazy clouds pass in front of the moon, Kubo's head was filled with thoughts. Coraline was an ordinary human with no weapons or armor to protect her, and no magical powers of her own. Yet she had outwitted an evil witch that wanted to steal her life, saved several people's lived, and survived with only some scrapes on her knees. She was a true hero.

But no one knew she was a hero. Even her parents didn't remember being trapped in the snow globe. She had gone through so much hardship and fought so hard to save her family, and they had no idea. What must that be like for her, to carry all those painful memories alone?

No, she wasn't really alone. Not completely. Her friends knew her story; the cat, Wybie, and Wybie's grandmother.

And now Kubo knew it, too.

The cat butted his head against Coraline's hand, prompting her to pet him. She complied, and once the cat was purring Kubo joined her in stroking him. It was strange, but it made him feel calmer. The cat's fur was dirty and coarse, yet the simple act of stroking it had a soothing effect on Kubo. Perhaps it was the same for Coraline, too. And perhaps the cat wasn't as snooty and self-centered as he seemed. Perhaps he really was trying to help them feel better.

"Are you sure you still want to hear my story?" Kubo said at last. "Yours was pretty amazing. I don't know if I can top it."

Coraline chuckled dryly and arched an eyebrow at him. "It's not a contest, silly. Of course I want to hear your story. You brought all your own paper and stuff, and you left off on a cliffhanger! It's not fair to leave your audience hanging like that."

"Yeah, that's true," Kubo said with a smile. "I used to do that a lot. But all stories have an ending." He stood up and dusted off his clothes. "So, should I tell it here, or…?"

"Wait!" Coraline jumped to her feet and took him by the hand yet again. This time her eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Come on, this way!"

Before Kubo could ask what was going on she was pulling him down the garden path and down the hill. The cat bounded after them, and soon they were all running. The scenery around them grew brighter and blurrier as their location shifted from one place to another.

"Where are you taking me?" Kubo asked, his voice loud over the wind whooshing in his ears.

Coraline grinned at him over her shoulder. "For a big story like yours, we need a bigger stage!"

"Don't mind her," the cat said, a smirk in his voice as he raced alongside Kubo. "She's always like this."

 _To be continued…_


	6. Kubo On Stage

Chapter 6: Kubo On Stage

The place Coraline, Kubo, and the cat finally arrived at was an ancient tennis court enclosed within a rusty chain link fence overgrown with vines. Coraline lifted the creaky latch and the old hinges screeched and groaned as she pushed the gate open.

"Wybie's grandma and her sister used to play here when they were kids," she said, stepping inside and holding the gate for Kubo and the cat. "Nobody's used it in years, so we can make it a stage for your story."

"I would have picked a tidier place," the cat chimed in, nose held in the air with distaste. "But this isn't _my_ dream, so who am I to comment?"

Coraline playfully stuck her tongue out at the cat.

Kubo studied his new surroundings through one squinted eye. Within the vine-covered chain link fence broken twigs and dead leaves littered the crumbling ground, and weeds sprouted from the winding cracks. At the center there was a ragged net hanging limply between two rusty metal posts. He walked up to the old net, running a hand over the worn and frayed strings.

"Hmm..." he muttered. "Yes, this will do just fine."

Removing his pack and shamisen from his back, Kubo placed them carefully on the ground and went to work. He opened the pack and arranged a set of origami puppets around a stack of colorful paper. Coraline's dragonfly hair clip was stored with them. He tucked it inside the front fold of his robe for safekeeping. Then he stood up, and slung his shamisen around to his front. With the bachi in his right hand he plucked the strings lightly, checking that they were still in tune.

Coraline closed the gate and hung back by the fence with the cat, watching Kubo prepare with her head tilted almost sideways. Then she noticed something strange happening. Each time Kubo plucked a string, the dry leaves and twigs on the ground twitched and rustled. Even her shoelaces and the hem of her skirt fluttered as if in a gentle breeze.

Before she could ask what was happening, Kubo had the bachi raised high above his head. His hand was glowing with golden light and his single eye was flashing with power. His voice was clear and commanding when he spoke.

"If you must blink, do it now!"

He brought the bachi down, striking a powerful chord on the three strings. The echoing notes sent a ring of golden light sweeping outward across the tennis court. The old net snapped from the posts and went flying against the fence, and every loose leaf and twig was blown away. The cat jumped in surprise and hid behind Coraline's legs, back arched and tail bushy, while she stood spellbound as her hair and clothes flapped and fluttered from the burst of magic.

As the wind settled, Kubo continued his speech. He was now in storyteller mode, gesturing theatrically with the bachi as he spoke and using his dramatic stage voice.

"Pay careful attention to everything you see and hear, no matter how unusual. And please be warned. If you fidget, if you look away, if you forget any part of what I tell you, even for an instant… then our hero will surely perish."

"Whoa," Coraline breathed, smiling crookedly with excitement and brown eyes bright with wonder. She sat on the dirty ground and pulled her knees to her chest, stroking the nervous cat still pressing into her side.

With a proud smile, Kubo began to play a somber tune. The broken net floated upward, hovered just above the ground between him and Coraline, and spread itself flat. Pieces of blue paper flew from the stack on the ground to blanket the entire net. As Kubo continued playing, the net began to undulate up and down like a restless sea, the shuffling blue papers rippling like stormy waves.

Kubo's music grew suspenseful as he played, his voice low and serious as he spoke. "Hanzo had fallen to the Moon King's forces, his army defeated and his fortress destroyed. Hanzo's wife, Sariatu, had no choice but to escape with Kubo, their only child. You may recall the Moon King had already stolen Kubo's left eye, and he would stop at nothing to steal the other."

Coraline was so entranced with the paper ocean that she didn't notice the little paper boat sailing on the waves until it was right in front of her. Inside the boat was the same yellow Sariatu puppet from yesterday. She had a shamisen in her arms and a red bundle on her back. Her long hair and sleeves whipped wildly behind her in an angry wind, but she sailed on. Above there were thick gray paper storm clouds shedding bits of confetti rain, and a round white moon floating ominously above it all.

"She searched for a safe place to hide her child from the Moon King," Kubo continued, nimble fingers playing up and down the neck of his shamisen. "And after much sailing through cold wind and stinging rain, she found it here, in a cave at the top of a cliff."

More paper flew from the stack, dark gray pieces that folded and shaped themselves into the form of the sharp, craggy cliff where Kubo and his mother had lived. It was huge, standing taller than both children's heads.

"But they were not yet safe," Kubo said in a low, ominous voice. "For as long as they were out after dark, the Moon King could see them. And he would not let them escape unharmed."

The music swelled with suspense and a huge blue wave rose up behind the little boat, rising higher and higher until it completely dwarfed the paper mother and child. Then it crashed down on top of them, engulfing the tiny people in a cascade of blue and white confetti foam. The paper boat burst into pieces, its passengers separated and swallowed up in the waves.

"Oh no!" Coraline gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, fearing the pair would drown.

To her relief they washed up safely on the shore below the cliff, but the mother puppet was damaged. The top of her paper head was dented and a tear ran down the left side of her face like a scar. She pulled herself across the rough ground toward the squirming red bundle that was her baby. The left side of the baby's face was wrapped in bandages, where his left eye should have been.

As mother and child were reunited, Kubo's music became calmer and the stormy paper ocean turned smooth and flat. The two puppets moved to the cave at the top of the cliff and vanished inside.

"Eleven years passed," he narrated. "And as Kubo grew up, his mother taught him everything she knew. She taught him how to-"

"Wait, wait, time out," Coraline interrupted, making a T shape with her hands. "Why are you telling the story like that?"

Kubo paused his music, frowning in confusion. "Like what?"

"You're talking about 'Kubo', like 'Kubo' is someone else," she said, making air quotes with her fingers. "But _you're_ Kubo. Why don't you just say it's you?"

He blinked in surprise. He hadn't even noticed he was telling the story that way or how odd it must have sounded to her. "Huh… You're right. Most of the stories I tell are about someone else, but this one is about me."

"Yeah," Coraline said with a nod. "So you should tell it like it happened to you. Because it _did_ happen to you, right?"

Kubo smiled and nodded back. "Yes, it did. All right, I'll try it again."

He strummed a few notes on the shamisen, picking up the tune where he left off. The mother and child puppets emerged from inside of the cave, but the child had grown. He looked just like Kubo, only smaller and made of red paper.

"Eleven years passed," Kubo narrated. "And as I grew up, Mother taught me everything she knew. She taught me how to fold paper and bring it to life with music, and she told me all her stories. My favorite stories were about my father Hanzo, the mighty samurai warrior, and his quest for the magic armor."

The familiar orange Hanzo puppet sprang to life from the stack of paper. As Kubo spoke of the armor its pieces came together from sheets of yellowish paper and hovered in a circle around Hanzo.

"The magic armor was hidden in three pieces; the Sword Unbreakable, the Breastplate Impenetrable, and the Helmet Invulnerable. Mother said that with all the pieces brought together, the armor was the only thing powerful enough to protect against the Moon King's power. But that wasn't all she told me."

Three more familiar puppets appeared. The hideous serpentine Moon Beast and the two crow-like women in black circled threateningly above the Hanzo puppet, who raised his sword to defend himself. Coraline felt the cat grow tense again and press against her leg, back arching, fur bristling, and a low growl in his throat.

Kubo continued telling the story. "Mother told me how the Moon King-no, my grandfather-and her sisters killed my father and stole my eye. And she warned me to never go out after dark, or they would find me and take me away from her."

Suddenly Coraline felt a tight squeeze in her chest. Her nose tingled, and tears pricked at her eyes. Then a series of images flashed before her eyes in a swirling blur, places she'd never seen and faces she didn't know; a river full of bright floating lanterns that suddenly went dark, a sinister full moon, two women in black with smiling white masks, a smoky burning village, a sad woman with long black hair and a scar on the left side of her face, a flash of gold and blue light, a blindingly white blizzard, and a red-faced monkey with white fur.

What was going on? What were these places and who were these people? Where were these strange images coming from? And why did she feel so sad?

The red string felt tight and hot around her little finger. She followed it with her eyes back to Kubo and saw how downcast he'd become. He looked as sad as she felt, as if the weight of the world was pressing down on him. Was she seeing his memories and feeling his sadness? Was that part of the string's power?

Coraline sucked in a shaky breath and swallowed the lump in her throat. Whatever was causing this, she didn't want to feel this way and she knew Kubo didn't either. It hurt too much and it was stopping the story. She had to do something. So she took in another deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted.

 _"Boooo!"_

Both Kubo and the cat stared at her in shock. Coraline ignored them and continued booing. She was heckling the Moon King and the Sisters' puppets, as if they were live actors who could hear her.

"You guys suck! You're ugly and you smell like armpits! _Boooo!"_

The cat stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. "What in the world are you doing?"

"They're the bad guys," Coraline replied. "So I'm making fun of them. They deserve it after all that horrible stuff they did." Then she resumed her jeering. _"Boooo!_ Go back to the Moon and take a bath, you stinkers!"

Kubo cracked a smile and laughed at Coraline's silly insults. Whether she was trying to cheer him up he wasn't sure, but his sad feelings faded away and he was ready to continue the story. He put on a frown and squinted at Coraline, pretending to be offended.

"Excuse me, miss," he said in a jokingly snobby tone. "But I must ask that you not harass the puppets. They're made of paper and sharp words can tear them easily."

Coraline sniggered back and smiled with relief. Her plan had worked. "Oh, pardon me, great storyteller," she replied. "I didn't mean to hurt the puppets' feelings. Please go on with your tale."

"Very well, I shall continue." He cleared his throat and strummed the shamisen. The music was still melancholy but there was less heaviness to it. It sounded nostalgic, like a bittersweet memory.

The Hanzo puppet exited the scene, along with the Moon Beast and the Sisters. The mother and child puppets were the focus once more. They were kneeling outside the cave entrance. The little Kubo puppet was busily folding even smaller puppets, and the Sariatu puppet sat still and unresponsive beside him, staring blankly at nothing. Her paper head remained dented and the scar on her face was still there.

"As the years went by, Mother began to slowly lose herself. At night her dreams made the paper float around the cave like leaves in a whirlwind, and during the day she was like a sleepwalker. So it was up to me to take care of us."

The melancholy tune turned to an up-tempo lively tune. More papers flew from the pile to construct a miniature village. There were little houses, shops, people, and a bell tower standing over the main street. The little Kubo puppet left the cave to join the villagers. He stood in the middle of the street under the bell tower. With his shamisen and his tiny puppets, he was putting on a show for the villagers.

"Every day I played my music and told my stories in town, and the people gave me money for food, water, more paper, and other things Mother and I needed. I told the stories she told me about Father and the magic armor, but I could never finish them before the evening bell rang. That was when I had to go home before the sun went down. But one day I stayed out too late. It was the first day of the Bon Festival."

"Time out," Coraline interrupted again. "What's a Bon Festival?"

Kubo arched his brows in surprise. "You don't know?"

She shook her head. "Nope. What is it?"

He kept playing as he explained, transforming the scene as he spoke. The village turned festive with colorful decorations, dancers in traditional costumes, and people buying lanterns from shops. "It's a festival when we honor our ancestors and the loved ones we've lost. There's music and dancing and food, and everyone goes to the graveyard to pray at their families' altars."

At the edge of town a forest sprang up, surrounding a graveyard with stone altars. The tennis net moved to wind around it with the blue paper rippling like a river. "Then they light lamps and float them down the river, guiding the spirits safely back to their world."

"Wow," Coraline breathed, eyes sparkling.

She was fascinated with the entire concept of the Bon Festival, as well as the beauty of it that Kubo had shown her. She wanted to know more. How had the traditions get started? Did the festival and its purpose still endure from his time to hers? How tragic it would be if something so beautiful was lost and all those memories were forgotten.

"Okay, keep going," she said, hugging her knees. "What happened to you on that day?"

"That day I went to the graveyard to pray to my father."

The Kubo puppet walked from the town to the graveyard, holding a simple paper lantern. He placed it not at an altar but on a boulder, and knelt before it to pray.

"Mother was getting worse and I hoped he could tell me what I should do. I prayed for hours but he never came. Everyone sent their lanterns down the river and left. I stayed behind, and I didn't see how dark it had gotten. By the time I did it was too late."

The white full moon rose in the sky, and the lanterns floating down the paper river tipped over all at once. On the opposite shore, across from where the little Kubo puppet stood, were two women in black wearing white masks.

"Just like Mother said, her Sisters found me. And they wanted my eye."

Coraline's face turned pale, her brown freckles standing out sharply against her white skin. These were the same two women from the flash of images she'd seen earlier. Her stomach twisted into a cold knot of dread.

"Oh crap."

"Indeed." The cat growled again, ears flattening against his head.

"I ran," Kubo went on. "But they were too fast, and they destroyed everything in their path."

As the Kubo puppet ran away from the river, the Sisters pursued, floating weightlessly above the water. One of them had a pipe, which she used to blow a cloud of snaky black smoke. It grew bigger and bigger as it chased after Kubo. When it got to the village it engulfed everyone and everything. Then the little Kubo stumbled and fell and dropped his shamisen. Just when the Sisters were swooping down on him, the yellow Sariatu puppet appeared, took the shamisen in hand, and played a powerful chord strong enough to blow them back.

"They had almost caught me when Mother came to my rescue. Then she told me to find the magic armor and cast a spell on my robes to fly me away from there. As the spell carried me away I pulled a hair from her head."

The scene played out before Coraline's eyes. Sariatu gave Kubo the shamisen and touched the back of his robe where the beetle emblem was. A pair of insect wings sprouted from his back and lifted the boy off the ground, but he didn't want to leave. He flailed and reached for his mother, but could only catch a piece of hair before the wings carried him away.

"That was the last time I saw her."

Kubo paused for a moment to collect himself. So did Coraline. All the pieces were coming together. The sad woman from her vision was his mother's face as her magic flew him away. The memory still haunted him, and she could see it. Their eyes stung with tears and their noses tingled, but Kubo couldn't stop the story yet. It was getting to the really exciting parts. He owed Coraline that much.

The cliff, village, forest and river all came apart, colored paper swirling around the airborne Kubo puppet in a chaotic whirlwind. Then sheets of white paper floated from the stack and spread across the ground in one big blanket. Fine bits of white confetti blew down from above like snowflakes in a storm. The little Kubo puppet landed among them in a heap and lay very still in the snow.

"I must have fallen asleep," he went on. "Because when I woke up I was in the Far Lands. It was the middle of a snowstorm. I thought I heard Mother's voice, but when I opened my eyes I saw a monkey talking to me."

Sure enough, a white monkey appeared in the snow and woke the sleeping Kubo. The same monkey Coraline had seen in her vision.

"Monkey said Mother and the village were gone, and she had to take me somewhere safe. I was too distraught to argue so I went with her. There was nowhere else for me to go and no one else to turn to."

The Kubo puppet reluctantly climbed on the monkey's back. She ran on all fours through the blizzard, until they came to something huge and dark half buried in the snow. It was shaped like a fish but much, much bigger.

"We hid inside of a dead whale and ate whale soup for dinner." Kubo narrated. He looked at Coraline with a cheeky grin. "And yes, being inside a giant decaying carcass and eating its flesh was just as horrible as you could imagine."

Coraline shuddered. "Bleah. That sounds gross-gusting."

"Not to me," the cat chimed in. He took a seat in Coraline's lap and licked his lips. "Whale sounds delicious."

"Of course _you'd_ say that," she teased.

Kubo cleared his throat to get their attention. "Monkey told me that she was the wooden charm I carried in my pack. Mother used the last of her power to bring Monkey to life, and it was her job to protect me because the Moon King and my aunts were still looking for me."

"Ah, I see where this is going," Coraline said. "You guys are gonna go look for the magic armor, right?"

Kubo smiled and nodded at her. She caught on quickly. "Yes, the armor was the only thing that could protect me from the Moon King. But its pieces were scattered across the Far Lands, and Monkey didn't know where they were. We had no idea where to start looking. But something very lucky happened that night."

A tiny square of orange paper floated out of the little Kubo puppet's bag and took the shape of the larger Hanzo puppet. He was no bigger than Coraline's fingernail, the tiniest piece of origami she ever saw.

"As I slept I dreamt of my father, and in the morning my little Hanzo had come to life."

The little Hanzo strode off, leading Kubo and Monkey, and pointed with his tiny sword toward the mouth of the dead whale.

"My father had answered me after all, and he knew where the armor was. So we followed where he pointed. Our quest for the magic armor had begun."

Coraline's eyes were bright and eager. She propped her fists under chin and bounced in place. "Ooh, this is gonna be good!"

Kubo grinned. He already knew how the story ended and what was going to happen next, but Coraline's excitement was getting him excited, too. The quest was his favorite part of the story because there was the most happiness in it. So he played a lively up-tempo tune to begin, and tiny blue origami birds fluttered from his puppet self's pack. He sent them swirling and flittering around Coraline's head.

She laughed as the cat tried to swat them out of the air. Kubo laughed as well, his heart as light as the fluttering birds.

 _To be continued…_

* * *

Author's Note: HOLY CRUD I UPDATED.

I'm sorry this was so long in coming, but a lot of stuff came up in my life and I got distracted by other fandoms and projects. I still have a lot of projects on my plate and IRL stuff coming up, but I really want to take time to finish this story this summer. There's not much more story left to go according to my plans, and I hope you guys who are still reading this story will enjoy it!


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